This disclosure relates to the field of medical devices and more particularly to a medical device for securing a catheter which may be partially engaged within a body (e.g., human body).
A catheter is a tube often inserted in the body to treat diseases or perform a surgical or other medical procedure. By modifying the material or adjusting the way catheters are manufactured, it is possible to adapt catheters for cardiovascular, urological, gastrointestinal, neurovascular, ophthalmic, and other applications.
Catheters allow drainage, administration of fluids or gases, access by surgical instruments, and also are able to perform a wide variety of other tasks depending on the application. In most uses, a catheter is a thin, flexible tube (“soft” catheter), though catheters are available in varying degrees of stiffness. When body fluids must be drained, a portion of a catheter may be secured within the body temporarily or also permanently.
In use, catheters may be accidently or inadvertently removed from a body or undesirably moved within the body. Furthermore, a catheter may become accidentally or inadvertently pinched, kinked, or otherwise constricted, e.g., by clothing or body movements.
Potentially life-threatening complications can result from inadvertent removal or repositioning of a catheter. Thus, it is desirable to secure an exterior portion of a catheter and to prevent it from being constricted.
In some cases, it may be desirable to conduct an exterior portion of a catheter along the surface of the body from which it extends in order to avoid the problems described above. The prior art fails to teach a means for turning a catheter at a right angle immediately after immerging normally from a body surface. The prior art also fails to disclose how such a redirecting of a catheter may be accomplished without pinching it or otherwise constricting its flow. The prior art also fails to disclose how such a turning and non-obstructing of such a catheter might be accomplished while also directing the exterior portion of the catheter in a selected direction. The prior art also fails to disclose how to hold a catheter in place while accomplishing the foregoing. Finally, prior art catheter holders tend to be complex, expensive and cumbersome to use. The device of this disclosure overcomes the above problems and has further advantages as described in the following detailed description and related drawing figures.